Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy will seek to strengthen economic and trade ties between the nineteen member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) bloc.

Ahead of the 17th Summit of Heads of State and Government, which is scheduled to start on Wednesday, the official spokesman for the ministry Badr Abdelatty, confirmed that the minister will “explain the need to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between member states” through the activities of the COMESA bloc.

Before the two day summit in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, Fahmy will participate in the ministerial meeting on Monday, according to the ministry. On the sidelines of the summit, Fahmy met with his Zambian and Mauritian counterparts, and in both meetings the minister highlighted “the great importance attached by Egypt to deepen its bilateral relations with its African brothers in the fields of economy, trade and politics.” He also stressed the “importance of the role of the private sector in Egypt and African countries in increasing the rates of existing trade and investment opportunities”.

During his address to the COMESA summit on Wednesday, Fahmy is expected to present “proposals that will support joint cooperation among member states as well as to promote cooperation on a larger scale to include three regional economic groupings.” The proposals will focus on cooperation between COMESA, the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community, according to Abdelatty.